Tuesday, 28 June 2011

The Crash of the Elysium - adult tickets to be made available

After enormous public demand, the organisers of the interactive theatre project The Crash of the Elysium at the Manchester International Festival have announced that a number of tickets will be made available enabling adults to enjoy the experience as well as children. The After Dark performances will run at various times between 8:00-9:00pm from 8th-15th July, and are only open to adults and children over thirteen years old.

The Crash of the Elysium will take place at the BBC's new MediaCity UK building at Salford Quays, and is performed by Punchdrunk in association with BBC Worldwide. The experience is written by Punchdrunk's Felix Barrett and Doctor Who writer Tom MacRae, based on an original idea by Steven Moffat.

Writer Tom MacRae recently spoke to the Telegraph about the premise behind the show:

In the tradition of the best Doctor Who the premise of what needs to happen is clearly outlined in the first couple of scenes, where it’s established what’s going on and what the kids have to do. They then go on a mission that requires them to head into this labyrinth of wonder we’ve created. It’s not like The Crystal Maze - if they want to interrogate the adults they meet we have, over months of careful planning, created a watertight story about what’s going on. But the instruction to the actors is - here’s the information, if the kids ask you questions you’ve got everything you need. If all they want to do is press the buttons let them do that!

We are told that in 1888 there was a famous steam-ship called the Elysium that mysteriously disappeared at sea. There are conflicting reports as to whether there was bad weather or not. Some legends have grown up around its missing cargo - there was supposed to be this secret Government package on board which has never been recovered. Whether that has anything to do with our show, I don’t know - it’s just a bit of history. The premise is… that you’re going to have the most amazing time of your life...!